I'm a Big Girl Now!

It's official--I'm a big girl now. I finally broke down and bought a pair of high heel shoes. How old am I? um... well, at least I'm not 50 yet. I figure I can wear these dress shoes for the next 25 years like I've worn my old pair of low-heel dress shoes.

I feel so tall!

soy milk continued

I make soy milk every Tuesday morning. That in it itself is not very impressing. What is though, is that people in my church know and every couple of weeks I have someone at the house learning how to make it too! Apparently, I am not the only person I know who doesn't drink animal's milk. It's great too because I am meeting new people and beginning not to feel like such a wierdo-outcast anymore.

hurray for like-minded people!

Apology to my Wonderful Children!

I am opposed to the drinking of animal's milk. Think about it for a moment---humans are the only animals that drink milk after they are weaned, and to make matters worse they drink another animal's milk. The thought of that has always made me cringe. And now, with the addition of growth hormones and other additives being put in the milk... yuck! Why would anyone want to put that crap in their body? (Ok, I'm off the soap box now.)

Needless to say, milk was not allowed in my home while my children were young. They drank almond milk, cashew milk, rice milk, and the dreaded soy milk. Oh, how they hated soy milk making days. They would run and hide because they knew mom would corner them and make them drink it. I finally got the hint and stopped making it after batches upon batches of soy milk had to be thrown out because they went sour. The recipe I used was from a Seventh-Day Adventist cookbook. I thought it must be a good one after all, they are die-hard vegetarians and soy is a staple food for them.

Well I was very, very wrong -- not in keeping my children away from animal milk, but in my choice of soy milk recipe. After 25 years I have found the perfect recipe and learned the tricks of soy milk making!!!!!! It even passed the family taste test! (I must admit, however, they were extremely hesitant to taste it.) I bought soy milk ($3.86 for 64 oz) and compared the taste to my home made soy milk and the taste was comparable. It takes about 30 minutes to make and, according to the recipe information, it costs about 12 cents per 64 oz, so what a great $$$ savings as well!

So to my wonderful children I apologize for making you drink the horrible soy stuff I made when you were growing up. I did the typical "mom thing" and pretended it was better than it really was because I believed so strongly against the alternative--cow's milk. Maybe now the scars can begin to heal. Just know that I love you.

Update on Dylan and Andrea.

Dylan was miserable immediately after the surgery. His body did not like the anesthesia. Luckily for him he was only miserable for a few hours. Andrea, however, ended up with an infected dry socket and started on an antibiotic only to discover she is allergic to penicillin. I don't know what was worse for her--the infection or the allergic reaction! Well, one good thing came out of it--we now know she is allergic to penicillin! (At 15 years old this is only the second time she's taken an antibiotic; the first was after her knee surgery in May, and it wasn't penicillin-based.)

Dylan started taking an antibiotic last week for a different reason and he ended up being allergic to it as well. (At 18, this is the first time he has ever taken an antibiotic. He only took it a couple of times before the allergy symptoms became unbearable and he stopped taking it.)

Now the really good news... we saved $2900 by having their wisdom teeth removed in 2008 instead of 2009! I am very thankful the insurance company sent out their 2009 revisions to coverage in December 2008!!!

Wisdom Teeth Removed for Christmas!

A week ago Jeff learned our medical insurance coverage was changing in 2009 and not for the better. Even though our medical budget was gone by May (Andrea's knee surgery), we decided to have Dylan and Andrea's wisdom teeth removed. Doing so in 2008 instead of 2009 saved us a bunch of moolah. The only dates the oral surgeon had available were December 23 and December 31. Neither date was optimal, but at least the 23rd was d0-able. I'm just glad he had time in his schedule for both of them.

What a way for them to spend Christmas!

Going, Going, But Not Yet Gone

I know it won't last forever...
Three days of frost and gray skies have wilted what was left of my lemon sorrel. The spinach might be salvageable, that is if the sun comes out tomorrow; carrots are becoming more difficult to dig out of the frozen ground (especially since Jeff packed away the trowel and now I'm using a kitchen spoon instead).
Tonight's menu: chicken with potato-carrot-onion casserole. No, the chicken did not come from the garden!

December 3rd in Northern Utah and Garden Growing Strong!

September in Utah is the month that people clean out their gardens and prepare it for winter. For the most part I did the same thing--tomatoes, squash, green peppers, and lettuce are long gone. However, I am pleased to report that my garden is still doing well with beets, carrots, spinach, lemon sorrel, onions, and potatoes. This is the second year we have gardened using tires. I am continually amazed at the benefits--plants are contained, no weeding, water usage is dramatically less, and best of all, two and three yields of produce! I haven't even covered the tires with straw yet to keep in the heat for the plants; the tires keep the heat on the plants. Last year we just played with the idea of tire gardening, didn't put much effort into doing it, even so our crop last year was phenomenal so much so that we decided to do it "right" this year. I highly recommend tire gardening!

Tonight's menu: split pea and ham soup, baby carrots and onions, homemade bread, beets, beet greens, and baby potatoes! Bon appetite!

Pandemic Fireside

I don't want to freak anyone out, but I learned this week that the world is at level 3 out of 6 on the pandemic scale. It is that high primarily because of the bird flu. I also learned that the World Health Organization is currently preparing for a full scale outbreak of "something" estimated to be upon us within the next 20 to 30 months. Now, I have to sit back and laugh just a bit because of what our prophet and elders have been telling us specifically over the last 2 years--and that is that we need to have 3 months of food and water as an immediate reserve in our homes. Three months is the typical quarantine period. I may not have finished college, but I sure can put two and two together and get four.

On Sunday a church official whose calling is specifically to teach and help prepare people for a possible pandemic event held a special fireside at our church. She gave us a whirlwind of information. I will not put it in here, but within the next few days I will be scanning her handouts and my notes of her presentation and have them available via email for those who are interested in them.

We started our own blog.

I decided after many sleepless nights (ha ha thats funny) that i would make our own blog. I really did think about it because i did not want to leave Powell land, but i decided that i will always be a citizen. Check it out.

http://richardandmeghannbateman.blogspot.com

Love ya lots

Megs

Another day in Paradise for Richard.

Richard has had it rough with all of the medical problems over the last two years. He had a little internal bleed that had to get fixed so he went into surgery today. It was not an evasive surgery, thank heaven, but he is still in a lot of pain.

This is him waiting his turn into the OR. He was so nervous, I think no matter how many times someone goes through procedures it is still nerve racking. But we are thankful he is okay and hopefully there will be no more problems with bleeding. I love him so much, even sick he is so cute!!!

To answer your question Sarah...

That's what I wanted to do also but school is so hard to get into its just crazy. You have to have your BSN and have so many years under your belt as a nurse in critical care and there is a ton of requirements to even apply, plus school is so expensive. I work with 6 different nurse working towards it and it seems like in a few years there will be a low demand for them.

For now I want to work in ER/ICU. I am going to get my BSN and my CCRN and reevaluate from there. Since there is no more NP program (that's what i really wanted to do,) and you have to have a masters to teach, I will most likely get a masters in nursing with a specialty.

But to be honest medicine is a long career and it is already getting old. I wouldn't going in a totally different direction all together for my master either. Like human relations or family counseling plus I also really want to do sign language still. All in due time....

The life of a Bateman

So its been a while since I posted anything, sorry life just gets so darn busy!

To update 0n Richard, he still hasn't heard anything on the settlement from his work injury. It has been 1 year and 7 months since he was zapped and 1 year since workman comp dropped him. It has been very difficult trying to make ends meet, thank heaven for my parents that have done so much for us. On a happier note Richard is back to work (against medical advisement,) it just got to the point that we could not do it anymore with out him working. He is back to his same job in the ER, but he has to retake his EMT because it expired while he was out. It is so nice having him back to work, and its so awesome our bank account isn't in the red anymore!!!! He is also going to school at SLCC working on general classes. I am so proud of him and all that he has overcome, its been really hard on him, me and our relationship but we are pulling through.

I had to take a year off from nursing because it was too hard trying to do it all. But I am still in school. I am taking a Chemistry class with a lab (which is like its own little class,) a Math class, an Art class and an institute class. Although it is a full time schedule and challenging classes it feels relaxing not worrying about nursing. In nursing there are so many other things that have to be done other than the class and the clinical. I still work at the hospital too but I have moved to the patient care floor, which I don't like but it was the only job available when Richard went back to work. (I was working the ER, Richards old position. So when he went back I had to leave.) Its kinda sad because Richard and I only really get to see each other coming and going and on the weekend because of our schedules, but we are making due. Oh the best thing so far about this year is I don't worry about school or work as much anymore, I have some free time!! I inherited from my mother a little OCD so when things aren't clean enough or organized it literally drives me crazy, and it has been so nice to have a chance to get things done.

We are still in the condo in SLC and I really like it there. I like my neighbors, my ward, where it is located, its wonderful.... I love it!!!! Thanks mom and dad for getting it for me to go to school, you guys are the greatest and I would not be able to do any of the things I have done with out you. We have painted all the bedrooms and will be start on the bathrooms soon but we need my dad for that. Our goal is to get the condo looking as good as we can get it with minimal work. I will post pictures later of what it looks like.

Getting back to a day in the life of a Bateman lets just say it keeps going and going and going....

Summer's Over - Back to School

This has been a busy and exciting summer for many of us. I am actually glad school is starting tomorrow. Not that I want to "get rid of my children," but I must admit to wanting some quiet time.

Family Update:
Meghann and Richard: Richard started back to work yesterday after 18 months medical leave. He is still in a lot of pain from shoulder and thoracic nerve damage and his lungs are still damaged, so we all hope work will go well and distract him from the constant pain. Both Megs and Richard are starting back at school this week. We are very proud of both of them for everything they have had to go through the last year and a half!

Samantha has held down two jobs this summer and still had time to have a social life. She took a "west coast" vacation with some friends and had a great time hugging trees in the Redwood Forest. She is in her second year at USU with dual major in German and International Studies with emphasis in world economy.

Dylan is a senior this year. If all goes as planned he will actually graduate from two high schools: the local high school and the correspondence school from which he has been taking extra classes. He is still working at the pizza parlor. He has reached the one year countdown to his leaving on a mission. He's been thinking a lot about that.

Andrea is doing extremely well in her recovery. I have to laugh about her knee surgery because one very good thing came out of the situation. I am totally opposed to mandatory physical education in the public school system. Because of the surgery, Andrea will be exempt from taking P.E. for the remainder of high school!!!! Yeah!!! She is currently a sophomore.

I'm Engaged!!!

On June 6th through the 9th I went to Utah to visit Matt who just got home from his mission only two days prior to my visit. He had no idea I was coming and went to the airport with his sister (lara) and Mom (Rayleen) thinking he was picking up an uncle. When he saw me coming out of the terminal he just about flipped his lid. He couldn't believe I was there when he was just talking to me just hours before about when he was going to come out to Colorado Springs to see me. Seeing him for the first time in 2 1/2 years felt great. I Still wanted to be

with him but I didn't want to rush anything.

After my trip to Utah Matty and I started planning his trip to visit me in Colorado Springs for my 21st b-day since he missed three of the others while we were together in high school and while he was on his mission. He came out to the Springs on the 8th of July and stayed till the 13th. While he was here I was sick for three days! I was sick on my b-day which sucked but it still went great since I got an engagement ring for my b-day.

I guess I should tell everyone how he proposed. It wasn't anything big with tons of people around. It was just him and me. We were lying on my bed talking. I was trying to make him feel guilty about me moving to Utah. I was telling him about how many great friends I've made and how I love the Stockton’s (the wonderful couple I'm staying with) and the beautiful mountains and hiking out here. I was kidding of course. I wanted to be with Matt. I was planning on moving to Utah to be closer to him to see how things would work out with us and if things went well we'd get married. I wasn't expecting what happened next. He said to me, "Well, maybe your b-day present will change your mind." I told him his b-day gift to me was his flight out here. He told me that he wanted to give me something special. That's when he pulled out the ring. All I did was laugh and smiled big and said, "Are you serious!!!" Obviously he was serious. :) And I obviously said yes.

We are getting married November 28th in the Las Vegas Temple at 11:00 a.m in the morning. We will have a reception around 5 or 6 p.m in Vegas and then a small open house in Kaysville, Utah about a week or so after that. All the planning is exciting but stressful at the same time. We've got a pretty small budget for everything and I can't find a dress I like anywhere. I take that back...I found a dress that is PERFECT in everyway except for one thing. The Price. The damage is $1000! OUCHIE! Oh well, I guess I just gotta find something cheap and close to what I want.

I'm hoping that as much family and friends as possible can come. I'd love to see you all! I know it will be hard for a ton of people to make it since this is the day after thanksgiving. But we thought it would be nice to have a Thanksgiving dinner on the 27th with his family and mine as our rehearsal dinner so that our families can meet.

I'll be moving to Utah Aug. 14th so that Matt and I can plan the wedding together rather than in separate states...and cuz I want to be with him. This distance stuff sucks and it's extremely hard. I'm so excited to go out there but I still love it in the Springs and it's going to be so hard to leave. I love being close to Sarah even though we hardly get the chance to hang out and the Stockton's are wonderful. They've done so much for me. They're like family to me.

Well, that's enough babbling outta me. I love you all so much and I miss you.

XOXO

JULY HAS BEEN A GOOD MONTH SO FAR

July has been a fun month for us so far! To start out the month was the fourth of July celebration-- my favorite holiday. Andrea is doing much better than expected with her knee, has been fitted for a special sports brace and is glad to be free of the huge monstrosity she's had to wear the last couple months. Aunt Donna came to visit us for a couple days; always enjoy our visits. Rabecca and Brad had their son, Aiden; I was able to be there for that. Wrote a nice long (long) letter to Gramma Jean. Aunt Kim came out to join us on our annual river rafting trip. This year we did 5 runs down the the river instead of the 4 we usually do; everyone enjoyed it, but agreed the last run wore them out. Yesterday I registered Meghann and Samantha as official members of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers International Association (DUP). They are eligible to be members because of Jeff's side of family--not mine. However, I contacted the Daughters of the American Revolution Association (DAR) to find out what I need to do to get myself and daughters registered as members. This they are eligible because of my side of the family--not Jeff's.

Wow and it's only half way through the month!

Another Daughter?

I am doing updates on all the kids in separate blogs, but I realized I have another daughter--Samantha... That must be the blond blurr I see running in and out of the house!

Update on Andrea

Andrea has about 85% of her knee flexibility back already. She still has to wear the brace to protect the sideways movements of her knee and until the doctors are assured the bone graft completely takes (another 2 months). It's cool how you can feel the screw in her leg. The doctor said he can remove it in about a year if it bothers her. If not, then it can stay in, but she will beep going through metal detectors. Cool--I have a beeping daughter!

Dylan Soars With Eagle Award

Dylan finally received his Boy Scout Eagle award. He did the project last year (August/Sept) , had all the paperwork completed and signed in November, but we waited until nice weather to have the actual Court of Honor Ceremony. We butt heads with the Scout Committee Chairman a little bit because he said no one would come to the ceremony if we didn't hold it on a Sunday and at the church building. Well, we took our chances and had the ceremony the way we wanted at the time and place we wanted--Friday evening at our house. Guess what--we had 48 people attend! Many people came up to Jeff and I afterwards (and at church the following Sunday) saying that it was the best Eagle Court of Honor they have ever been to.

The biggest thing that Jeff and I wanted to avoid was having the ceremony feel like a church meeting. We did have opening and closing prayers, but everything else was very much BOY SCOUTS! I made a slide show presentation of Dylan's life titled "Being Dylan" and we had 12 people "roast" Dylan for about 2 minutes each. Each person spoke on one of the characteristics of a boy scout from the boy scout law and how Dylan represents that quality in his life. It is something we have never seen or heard done before. Dylan and Jeff made a special 13 candle holder to represent the 12 characteristics.

The whole night was a success. Much thanks go out to all those who participated, both family and friends! Congrats Dylan!

news article about the fire

Here is a local news report on the fire.


http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=3647815

Check it out, we were there!!!

When your life flashes before your eyes

It is said that when something tragic happens your life flashes before your eyes. Well i think Richard and i had this happen on Sunday afternoon. I had worked from noon Saturday till Sunday morning at 0700, then i stayed up to go to church; after sacrament meeting i went home and went to sleep about 1pm. By 1:30 i was evacuated from the condo, the south side of my condo building was on fire and the whole building was a risk and needed to be evacuated. There was a fire in the attic of the condo and the firemen were having a hard time controlling it. When Richard and I found out what was going on and the whole building was at risk. We rushed back into the condo to save our animals (two cats, two birds, and a do.) The police wouldn't let us in but Richard, fought his way in to get the cats, the cop followed, to grab him while i ran in and got the birds and the dog. The cops started to yell at me but I just ignored them, (those darn pigs!) The cats were left inside but we were able to get the others out.

After an hour of everyone running around like a chicken with its head cut off, we were told the fire was under control and the north end of the building (where we live) was safe but we would not be allowed in until the whole building was safe. There were four condos completely burned, but 12 units were unlivable. The north end was cleared to go in but our neighbors were kicked out.

Richard and I were talking how close it came to losing everything and there was nothing we could have done. It was very scary especially when we didn't know what was going on and being man handled by police and fireman (well, as if i mind i married a fireman! lol) We are okay, our animals are okay, our stuff is okay, but we did watch everything flash before our eyes.